President Ilham Aliyev: "Armenian occupation impedes the development of the whole region"

Baku-APA. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a message to the participants of the 40th plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, APA reports

"I cordially congratulate you on the opening of the 40th plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Currently the regional organizations are playing more and more important role in the expansion of political and economic relations among countries, protecting the peace, security and stability. Founded twenty years ago, the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation made various initiatives to enhance cooperation in the region and has made serious efforts to put them into practice for a past period of time. Today development of relations with the BSEC and its Parliamentary Assembly has been and remains one of the main directions of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy. We always estimated this contribution as the deepening of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the region and searching for solutions to our common challenges, "- reads the message of President Ilham Aliyev.

Transnational projects realized and implemented owing to the BSEC Member States’ joint efforts, have created favorable conditions to the dynamic development of the region, said the head of state. "However, along with this, the existence of some problems with delayed solutions in the region, including the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains a major obstacle to the development of countries in the region. Occupation of 20 percent of our territories as a result of Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan, the expulsion of a million of our citizens from their homes, not only impedes our development, but also the development of other neighboring countries and whole region and is a serious threat to peace and progress. There is no doubt that a fair settlement of the conflicts via generally recognized principles and norms of international law can open up completely new perspectives to the development of international cooperation," - reads President Ilham Aliyev’s message.

According to the President, holding back in Baku high-level forum of such respected international organization as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, uniting the parliaments of the twelve states, is a significant event."I hope that the decisions to be made at this session will give impetus to strengthening cooperation among our countries and will serve the well-being of our peoples. I cordially welcome you to Azerbaijan and wish you success in the work of the forum "- the message reads.